The One With Ross' Grant
"The One With Ross' Grant" is the sixth episode of the tenth season of Friends, which aired on November 6, 2003. Plot Ross is very excited about a big grant he's hoping to get, but his hopes vanish as soon as they arise when he learns that the professor administering the grant is his girlfriend Charlie's ex-boyfriend, the accomplished paleontologist Benjamin Hobart. Charlie is sure that this won't get in Ross' way, and books a dinner for the three of them. It only takes a detour of hers to the restroom for Ross to learn that Benjamin is still in love with Charlie and wants Ross to break up with her. Thinking it insane to do so, Ross refuses; however, at the meeting for the grant the next day, contrary to his other colleagues, he's asked trivial nonsense questions to which Ross has no answer. When Ross confronts him about this, Hobart explains how he's ready to offer Ross the grant only if he breaks up with Charlie. Furious, Ross explains everything to Charlie, who doesn't believe him in the least since it was Benjamin who had broken up with her in the first place. Ross drags her with him to Hobart, who confesses his undying love for Charlie. Unfortunately for Ross, Charlie still has feelings for Hobart and the two end up making out in front of him, whereupon Ross flat-out concedes. Now that Mike is moving in, Phoebe has to compromise the decor in her apartment and get rid of a bunch of stuff, including Gladys - a three-dimensional painting of a half-bald mannequin. Out of friendship (and also with much regret), Monica agrees to take Gladys for herself. To complicate matters for her, Phoebe gives her the painting in front of Rachel, who loses no time in suggesting the most prominent places in the apartment where Monica could hang it. Monica tricks Joey into buying the portrait by presenting it as "an original Buffay", but Rachel lures Joey in believing that the painting is haunted. The girls eventually try to press Gladys onto each other, when Phoebe presents them with Glynnis, which by comparison makes Gladys look like an angelic portrait. Monica and Rachel quickly change their mind about Gladys; Rachel ends up with her, while Monica gets Glynnis. The paintings soon become a source of entertainment - Rachel uses Gladys to scare Joey in his sleep, but is frightened off by Monica holding up Glynnis behind her. Chandler's work is hitting new heights, as a national commercial based mostly on his ideas is in production. Joey begs his friend for a part, but Chandler finds Joey inadequate for the part. Joey insists by giving Chandler a tape to pass on to his bosses so that they could decide. Chandler sticks to his thoughts, and taking Rachel's advice, doesn't pass the tape. Chandler doesn't even bother to watch the tape himself, but when Joey asks him if he watched the tape, the latter gets suspicious and knows his friend's lying. When Joey finally confronts Chandler, he reveals how he knows about all the lying by popping the video in the player. The video shows Joey with blue lips promoting blue lip-stick for men (a commercial which aired only in Japan). Chandler can only make amends with his friend in one way - by putting on the lipstick himself in front of his friends and admitting that he's "a pretty little girl". Cast and Crew Main Cast Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Greene Courteney Cox - Monica Geller Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing David Schwimmer - Ross Geller Supporting Cast Ming Lo - Dr. Li Cathy Lind Hayes - Dr. Biely Greg Kinnear - Benjamin Hobart Cali Sheldon - Emma Geller-Greene Noelle Sheldon - Emma Geller-Greene Lo Ming - Masco Aisha Tyler - Charlie Wheeler Crew Directed By: Ben Weiss Written By: Sebastion Jones Trivia *This is the last appearance of Aisha Tyler as Charlie Wheeler. Charlie was in 9 episodes of Friends. **Charlie is Ross' last relationship, before reuniting with the love of his life, Rachel, although he does go on one more date. **Charlie is willing to get back together with Benjamin Hobart, telling Ross that there is so much history between them. This statement parallels with the relationship of Ross and Rachel, who get back together in "The Last One, Part 2". *This is the last episode with Ross' name in the title. *This is the last episode to feature Phoebe's apartment. *The white shirt and skirt Rachel wears in this episode is the outfit her sister Amy was wearing in the previous episode. (Rachel told Amy that it was for her to wear to work.) *In Joey's commercial from Japan, "Ichiban - Lipstick For Men", the term "ichiban" means "the best" or "number 1." At the end of the commercial, Joey says "Saikou!", which is Japanese for "the highest" or "supreme." *Rachel's description of Gladys to Joey closely resembles the Japanese urban legend of "Teke Teke", the vengeful spirit of a woman who was cut in half and drags her torso while searching for victims making a "teke teke" sound. Some versions describe her stealing the legs of her victim. *Greg Kinnear and Aisha Tyler have both been hosts of the TV news show [http://www.tv.com/talk-soup/show/4818/summary.html?q=talk%20soup&tag=search_results;title;0 Talk Soup]. *When Joey confronts Chandler about his lying about watching the video, he calls him Pinocchio. Pinocchio is the story of wooden boy carved from a piece of pine by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a small Italian village. In the story Pinocchio's nose would grow whenever he told a lie. The fable has been made popular by cartoon adaptations and a Disney movie. *One of the guests Ross mentions for his fantasy dinner party is Christie Brinkley, who is an American model best known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and Covergirl commercials. Christie Blinkley has been married four times. *Another guest Ross mentions for his fantasy party is C-3PO, a protocol droid created by Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars universe. In "The One With The Princess Leia Fantasy"'', ''Rachel dresses up as another character from Star Wars, Princess Leia. Further Monica's ex-boyfriend Pete Becker is said to own two Stormtrooper costumes, characters also from Star Wars. *In Phoebe's black book is written the name Jethro Tull, which is a British rock band. *Rachel's initial refusal to accept the date book from Phoebe perhaps indicates that she hopes to get back together with Ross and doesn't really want to date anyone else. *When Rachel suggested to replace the French poster above the television with Gladys, Phoebe mentioned that "nothing ever comes out of that poster", that was a poke about the hole in which the crew used to position the camera during scenes inside Monica's apartment. *When Chandler tells Joey "bravo" in response to Joey, this is because in a blooper, Matt LeBlanc did the wrong actions to his line about feeling hot. *The repeatedly lengthening "You lied" to Chandler is a callback to the "they don't know that we know that they know" in "The One Where Everybody Finds Out. *Ross comments "big deal, I like proposals", a reference to his three marriages. His next proposal will be to Rachel sometime after the series finale, assuming Rachel doesn't propose again like she did before their drunken marriage. *When Benjamin sits down, he takes the seat where Ross was sitting. This is a callback to when Rachel's father Dr. Greene sat down in Ross's seat when he joined Ross and Rachel for dinner. Goofs / Continuity *When Monica comes round to Phoebe's, Phoebe reminds her that she's got to clear out stuff. In this wide shot Monica has both hands by her sides, but when it cuts to her finishing saying "oh right", her right hand is now gripping her bag's strap. *When Joey is about to show Chandler and Rachel the video, the end of the set is clearly visible on the TV screen. It can be seen again after Joey turns off the video. *When Joey puts the tape in the VCR, it spits it back out before cutting to another angle where Joey doesn’t touch the VCR, yet the video begins without hesitation. *When Dr. Hobart enters the meeting room to conduct the grant interviews, markers can be seen on the floor around the first chair's wheels as well as in front of the table. *When Aisha Tyler and Greg Kinnear put one hand on Ross's face, they bring those hands together and they interlock fingers, then the camera changes positions and they interlock fingers again. *As Rachel is getting ready to put Emma to bed you can see that as Emma pushes the book that Rachel is reading away the toy Caterpillar is not on her side and the next shot it shows her with the toy Caterpillar. *When Charlie and Benjamin are at the restaurant, Benjamin says "I can't believe you chose this restaurant. You remember that night?" To which Charlie replies "I can't believe they let us back in here." However in "The One with the Fertility Test" it shows that Charlie has never been to New York before. However, it is likely that either the restaurant is outside of New York or Charlie did not remember being in New York except for the restaurant. *When Phoebe tells Rachel and Monica that Mike lets her keep her box of hairs Rachel's chopsticks are down, by the plate. In the next shot, she's holding them close to her mouth. *In this episode, Monica is mortified at the thought of hanging "Gladys" in her apartment. But in the flashback episodes when Monica and Phoebe were roommates, Gladys can be seen hanging in Monica's apartment on the wall to the left of the front door. * Joey is reading the College Preview issue of Sports Illustrated. Which could possibly mean that all the episodes are happening over the summer and that would explain Emma's birthday being so late. But it is Joey so he could just be reading an old magazine. *When Emma gets fussy while Rachel is reading to her, she says "Mama", but her mouth is shut when she says it. External links * The One with Ross' Grant at the Internet Movie Database Episode Navigation Category:Friends Episodes Category:Season 10 Category:Episodes with Ross' name in the title Category:Episodes Category:Season 10 Episodes